Ready, Set, RUSH
by absolutebanana
Summary: A series of one-shots about Vanellope settling down to her new life in Sugar Rush. Mostly fluff. Rated K plus 'cause I'm paranoid. Reviews give me the honeyglows ;)
1. A Whole New World

_A/N: Hey guys! This is my first ever fanfiction, and I hope you like it!_

_Sadly, I don't own Wreck-It Ralph or any of the characters mentioned in the story._

_The quote 'My candle is a part of me! Get rid of it, and I'm just a head!' is from Chapter 3 of the fanfiction author Bookish Delight's WIR story 'Double-Sided'. I used it because I thought it would work brilliantly in the context. Apart from that, all the writing belongs to me! _

Chapter 1: A Whole New World

Candlehead took Vanellope by the hand and led her under the 'START' banner, followed closely by Taffyta. She could feel herself going into 'non-stop chatter mode' and resisted the urge to grin like a moron.

'Hop in here, Vanellope, and I'll show you around!' she exclaimed, vaulting into the Ice Screamer as its engine spluttered to life. 'Oh, wait a second- you already have a kart, don't you? I'd forgotten. Maybe we'll have to get you another one, as it's a bit of a disaster...but then, if you'd like to use yours anyway, then that's fine too. Or you could keep it as a memento, and get a shiny new one for racing and stuff! How does that sound? Well, what are you waiting for? Get in your kart!'

The words bubbled from her mouth at top speed, and she came back to earth to find Vanellope looking like she'd been hit with a sledgehammer. Taffyta rolled her eyes, tossing her lollipop casually over her shoulder.

'Don't mind Miss Motormouth,' she purred. 'She's overdone it on the sugar again. This way, President.'

Vanellope spoke for the first time since Ralph's departure. 'Aw, c'mon, Taff, let her have some fun! Show me the ropes, Hot Head.' With an impish grin and a blue flash, she glitched into her kart. Taffyta looked slightly miffed, but followed suit and leapt into Pink Lightning. Candlehead just stood there, wondering if she'd misheard. _The President of Sugar Rush wants _me _to show her round?_

'Yee-haa!' she shrieked, revving up the Ice Screamer. 'Follow me, Vanellope!' The trio hurtled towards the river in a cloud of sugary brown dust.

ooo

'And this...' Candlehead announced, veering sharply round a corner, 'is Licorice Lane, where all the shops are! Check it out!' Vanellope peered curiously over the edge of her kart. Ahead of her lay a wide avenue lined with bizarre buildings of every colour, shape and size. Candy creatures waddled aimlessly around, munching goodies or swinging bags from their tiny arms. Some stopped to wave and cheer as the three karts hurtled by.

Vanellope read the signs as they flashed past: 'Miss Sweetheart's Salon...Ciocolato Café...General Candy Store...Jeez, why do people need all this stuff?'

'You'd be surprised,' Taffyta said absently, twirling a strand of platinum hair round her finger. 'Rancis gets a great deal at Miss Sweetheart's Salon for a quiff and a 50's grease do...'

Candlehead tried and failed to suppress a snort. Rancis Fluggerbutter was notorious throughout the arcade for his vanity, and Gloyd Orangeboar, Sugar Rush's own court jester, took advantage of it to prank him in any way possible. The last time, he'd swapped his Special Formulated Extra-Fine Shampoo for a jar of golden syrup, which had resulted in a screaming yellow goblin wreaking devastation across the land for days afterwards. Only the underground candy-kart-wash had been able to clean Rancis up, and he hadn't spoken to Gloyd ever since.

Candlehead surfaced from the memories and caught Vanellope staring at her, her head tilted to one side. 'What?' she asked, a little too quickly.

'Oh, nothing really...' Vanellope mumbled, her gaze flicking downwards to the floor. 'It's just- I didn't know how much I'd missed for the past fifteen years, y'know? I didn't even know this place existed.' Candlehead recoiled, feeling guilt rise up in her stomach.

'Well- I didn't even know _you _really, for the most part...' she stuttered, trying to patch things up. 'I mean, I knew who you were, but I thought you were some kind of monster, trying to destroy the game...I'd had it programmed into my code, I guess, by King- Turbo, I mean- and, um, that's why, er, I, kind of, well...' She felt her cheeks flush scarlet and cringed inwardly. _Well done, kiddo. Make the president hate you on the first day._

Vanellope blinked, then cracked a grin. 'Aw, forget it. It's all in the past! Let's catch up Little Miss Muffet before she leaves us eating her dust.' She gestured to the rapidly disappearing pink blob on the horizon. 'And then...you gonna show me round these weird little shops, or what?'

Candlehead shifted the joystick on her kart, a giggle of joy bubbling up in her throat.

ooo

Twenty minutes later, they were sitting outside on the sun-baked patio of the Ciocolato Café. Taffyta and Vanellope were slurping large ice creams, but Candlehead had ordered a hot chocolate with marshmallows. Even on this warm summer's day, it was best not to eat anything that might put out her candle.

'So, my loyal subjects...where next?' demanded Vanellope, crunching down pensively on her cone. Taffyta had managed to talk her into buying some new outfits from the Bonbon Boutique, and two elegant little bags dangled from each arm.

'Well, _President_,' drawled Taffyta, exchanging a wink with Candlehead, 'I think we'd better show you round your own _home _first, before you start getting any fancy ideas.' Vanellope sputtered indignantly, but then went quiet for a moment, her jaw dropping . 'You mean...the Peppermint Palace? That's where I _live _now?' she asked, unable to disguise the excitement in her voice. 'Like, it's... my home? I live in the _castle_? WOW!'

Taffyta grinned from ear to ear. 'Well, what did you expect, Van? You can't live in one of your-' She caught herself just in time, remembering all the times she had made it her personal mission to destroy Vanellope's little hidey-holes. '- in, er, one of the other houses,' she finished lamely, avoiding the president's gaze.

The trio hopped into their karts and drove over to the castle, its rickety waffle bridge trembling as they hurtled across. Vanellope peered curiously over the side of her kart, eager to get a glimpse of their next destination. Upon a majestic, sugar-dusted dome, surrounded by mounds and spirals of ice cream, stood-

'My castle,' breathed Vanellope, unable to tear her eyes away. 'Sweet mother of monkey milk, it's _mine, all mine_! Look at that taffy moat! Look at those turrets! Guys, seriously, just check out my pad! It's all...' She trailed off uncertainly and blinked at Taffyta, who was coming up on her right side. 'It _is _mine, right?'

Taffyta smirked. 'Yes, Your Glitchiness, it's all yours. Don't worry about it- by now, it'll all be back to how it was before.'

The karts came to a halt at the foot of the palace. There were faintly audible chants of 'O-re-o, oreee-o...' from inside the walls. Sure enough, two of the guards came waddling up to the gates, which clicked open immediately. Taffyta, Candlehead and Vanellope stepped into the entrance hall of the castle, the latter gazing in wonder at the arched windows, twirled pillars, and elaborate chandeliers. She ran her finger across the wall, licked it, and turned to the other two.

'Bit..._pink, _y'know what I mean?' she pronounced. Candlehead nodded obligingly. The president cracked a grin, then shouted with all the force of her small lungs, 'OI! SOUR BILL!'

There was no answer. 'Where's a grumpy green henchman when you need one?' Vanellope muttered, sucking in her breath to yell again. The gumball in question shuffled out reluctantly from behind a pillar. 'Ye-ees, President?' he droned, staring mistrustfully up at her from under drooping eyelids.

'OK, Billy-boy!' Vanellope said gleefully, clapping her hands. 'It's time for a revamp! Mint and chocolate frosting on the walls, and just a bit of pink for variety. Turbo was absolutely _clueless _when it came to interior design,' she murmured vaguely, indicating the great expanse of salmon behind her. 'Get some of the servants to help you- you're too small to do it all on your ownsome. I presume I do _have _servants now?' Sour Bill nodded mutely. 'Off you go, then! Oh, and show me a place where these lovely ladies and I can have a chat,' she added, twirling around to grin at Taffyta and Candlehead. '_You _two can get me up to speed on what I've missed for the past ten years.'

ooo

'Number thirty-two...' Taffyta said thoughtfully, counting on her four fingers, '...don't ever insult Crumbelina's cooking- she's way too sensitive to criticism. Oh, and the palette swaps all think they're completely individual characters, even though we know they're basically just copies.'

'So if Nougetsia comes up to you going, 'Adorabeezle _so _doesn't have this freckle on her nose, does she?' you have to humour her, 'cause otherwise she'll throw a strop,' Candlehead piped up.

Sour Bill had shown them up to Vanellope's new bedroom, which was entirely furnished in mint green, complete with a massive candy-cane balcony. All three were lazing around on the soft marshmallow bed, watching the sun descend in the sky. Vanellope pushed herself up on one elbow, grinning from ear to ear.

'Well, I think you've answered all my questions for today, thank you!' she said grandly. 'Except one, that I've wanted to know forever. Candlehead, _why on earth do you care so much about that kooky candle_?'

Candlehead's hand went automatically to her head, and she was relieved to feel the protective warmth that meant her flame was still burning. 'Why do you think?' she spluttered. 'My candle is a part of me! Like an ear or a nose, just _way_ more important! Without it, I'd be...I'd be...' She paused, searching for a word bad enough to describe her imaginary future predicament. 'I'd just be a _head_!' she declared triumphantly. Vanellope and Taffyta exchanged a glance, then burst out laughing.

'Candlehead, seriously...' Taffyta said teasingly, giving her a shove. 'Sometimes I wonder if that candle hasn't frazzled the few brains you have in there.' They lay back down on the bed, watching the candyfloss clouds meander by. There was a long, slightly awkward silence, but suddenly Taffyta cleared her throat again.

'Vanellope...well, I guess I ought to tell you I'm sorry that I, er, um...'

'That you persecuted me non-stop for the past decade?' Vanellope said dryly, a sudden icy tone to her voice. Candlehead's gaze switched frantically back and forth between them. Taffyta bit her lip, and the president's gaze softened.

'Aw, Taff,' she mumbled. 'I didn't mean it, and I know it wasn't your fault. It's just...it might take a bit of getting used to, OK? That...that people I used to avoid at all costs were supposed to be my friends all along. I'm not really mad.'

Taffyta's eyes were huge and beseeching. 'Van, I- I get it. But the way I treated you, it wasn't just 'cause you were a glitch, y'know? I actually thought you were some kind of virus, trying to get our game unplugged. But I understand if you just need a bit of space at the moment. C'mon, Candle. Let's leave Vanellope in peace.' She turned towards the door.

'Taffyta- Vanellope-' Candlehead said desperately, trying to find the right words. 'We don't need to go, really, do we? Vanellope knows we're sorry. She's just a bit upset, right? And...and...I think she needs us to...to be her _friends. _To cheer her up.' She gulped. 'We can't just leave you here, Vanellope. You know we'll never abandon you again, right? No matter which evil weirdo next comes along to mess things up.'

For one long, awful moment, nobody said anything. Then, before Candlehead could process what was happening, she found herself enveloped in two pairs of arms in some kind of crazy group hug. Eventually they drew apart, flopping back onto the bed.

'You know, Candlehead,' Vanellope said, smiling weakly, 'For someone who's kind of dumb, you're actually pretty clever.' Candlehead grinned, deciding to take that as a compliment. Taffyta shook her head and laughed, holding out her hand to Vanellope.

'Candlehead's right. We'll never give up on you again, Vanellope. I promise.'

They fist-bumped each other, all three at once.

_A/N: So there we go! Read, review, all that jazz. I would like at least 3 reviews before I post the next chapter, which should be done in about a week._

Please review, even if you hate it! Any feedback is great! It will only take a minute of your time and it will make my day :) 


	2. When Can We Do This Again

_A/N: Sorry for the wait! This chapter was stupidly hard to write, plus I've had to juggle it with school. But I'm on holiday now, so updates should be coming a bit more frequently. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed._

_By the way, this story is just a little collection of snapshots, not in chronological order, with no actual plot as of yet. Therefore, this chapter has absolutely NO relation to my last one- although Candlehead & Taffyta will make an appearance in future chapters. Hope this isn't too confusing._

_Great, now I've put you all off the story *facepalm*. Without further ado..._

_Disclaimer: I own none of the characters or concepts mentioned in the story below._

Chapter 2: When Can We Do This Again

_Fix-it Felix Jr  
__Niceland Apartments  
__12.11.2012 16:18_

To Ralph, it was a lot like any other day. Climb up the building, wreck it, fall down splat in the mud, start again. But tonight, he had something to look forward to. Something better than a Nicelander party, or an afternoon in Tapper's with Felix and Calhoun. Tonight, Vanellope was going to leave her game, for the first time in fifteen years, and he wasn't missing that for the world.

All day she'd been acting slightly distracted- wiping out on easy corners, forgetting to fist-bump the player, even ignoring her Winner's Cup- although it was true she had six of those already. At four o'clock, when the arcade was starting to close, she'd been the first to vanish from the screen. Ralph was glad she was excited, but he couldn't help being worried that the universe outside her game would be an anticlimax. Especially Fix-it Felix Jr; compared to the high-definition, hyper-realistic world of Vanellope's game, his own seemed like old, cheap trash.

From where he lay in his mud puddle, he could see the whole land: the apartment block rising up to meet the ceiling, the well-kept lawn that surrounded it, his little one-storey shack in the newly-named East Niceland. The train from Game Central Station puttered to a halt by the railway platform. Watching it trundle in, Ralph groaned inwardly. For the first time in thirty years, he felt embarrassedof his game- it was barely forty foot square, while Vanellope's stretched on for miles. But she didn't have to visit it, did she? There were lots of other games in which she'd feel more at home. Mario Kart, BurgerTime, Hero's Duty...on second thoughts, _definitely _not Hero's Duty. One trip there had been enough for a lifetime.

Hauling himself up from the dirt, Ralph shook off droplets of mud and set off towards the train. He'd promised to meet Vanellope at half-past four, but he figured it was a good thing to be early, just in case. It took him some effort to squish into the tiny carriage, but he managed it eventually. Waving goodbye to Q*bert, who was standing on the platform, Ralph began the slow ride to Game Central Station.

ooo

"Name?"

Ralph groaned, glaring at the bespectacled blue man blocking his way, and said flatly: "Wreck-it Ralph from Fix-it Felix Jr on my way to Sugar Rush I'm nine feet tall six hundred and forty-three pounds and I'm coming back in about four hours."

The Surge Protector gaped in astonishment, his pen poised above his clipboard. ''Er, very good, sir...anything to declare?"

But Ralph had already set off through Game Central Station. The milling crowds parted before him, pointing and staring unabashedly as he stomped through. But these weren't the usual mutters of 'Bad guy coming' and 'Watch out'- it was more like he was some kind of celebrity.

"That's Wreck-it Ralph? _The _Wreck-it Ralph?!"

"Hey-o, Wreckin' Man!"

"Ya think I could get his autograph?"

They waved and cheered as he passed by, which for some reason made Ralph feel as if he'd just eaten one of Mary's hot pies. The Sugar Rush portal, a yawning dark cavern of crackling wires, was right near the end of Game Central Station. Lifting one foot delicately onto the wires- or as delicately as someone like Ralph could- he set his teeth and began to walk down the tunnel. There was no sound except for the muffled plod of his bare feet and the fizzing of the wires, and after fifteen minutes, Ralph was beginning to get fed up. Why couldn't there be some kind of vehicle, especially in a racing game? When he first heard the whirring of an engine, he thought he was hallucinating - or maybe that some pixellated genie had magically granted his wish.

But then, winding through the tunnel, Ralph made out a chocolate-splattered, green-and purple bonnet, dotted with star-shaped sprinkles and and lit up by two gummy headlamps. Forgetting his aching, blistered feet, unable to stop the grin spreading across his face, he broke out into a run.

ooo

Vanellope neared the first bend in the tunnel, telling herself she'd wait for Ralph at the end. She'd just have a little peek outside, check out Game Central Station- and besides, Ralph was usually at least twenty minutes late for everything, she reminded herself with a smirk. What could go wrong? It wasn't as if she was _scared_, or anything...

Her breathing became slightly ragged as she turned another corner, skidding across the prickling tangle of wires. All right, maybe she wasn't quite as fearless as she thought she was. It wasn't like she knew much about the arcade- there wasn't much to see from the Sugar Rush screen. But she knew there were at least fifty games in the arcade, dating back to long before she'd been plugged in: fighting games, fashion games, space games, dancing games...Heck, even Ralph was from the 1980s. He knew so much more about this place than she did. Maybe she should go back and wait for him. Maybe she wasn't ready to go outside yet.

But then, she heard a faintly audible noise, growing louder by the minute. The _thud_, _thud, thud_ of a pair of feet- and not just any pair of feet. A large and square, size-26 pair of feet with dirt rimming the toenails and caking the soles. In short, her favourite pair of feet in the arcade.

Vanellope rubbed her eyes, unable to believe what she was seeing. _No way. The guy who overslept on Felix's wedding day- the guy who always misses all my races, every week- the guy who is, as he puts it, a dummy with dates- he's here right now, and he's _early?_ Impossible._

But he was.

Vanellope felt a grin split her face in half. "Prepare to be annihilated, Mountain Man!" she cackled, plowing into the wall of orange flannel and overalls that stood, catching its breath, in the middle of the tunnel. She felt a wave of dizziness overcome her, but regained her feet immediately and began to caper around in circles. Ralph clutched his head and smiled wearily at the green blur dancing before him.

"I'm gonna go OUTSIDE! I'm GONNA GO OUTSIDE!" she chanted, spinning jerkily around. "Great gambolling gumballs, Ralph, can you believe it? I mean, I have _dreamed _about this moment for _so long_, and now..."

"You think you're gonna puke?" Ralph joked, plucking her from the ground by the hood of her sweater. "Kiddo, you better calm down. You're seriously hyper, and that's pretty bad for someone who lives on _sugar_. Just take a deep breath..." Vanellope stifled a snort, but inhaled obediently. Ralph climbed up to the boot of the car, smooshing it a little, and plopped Vanellope into the driver's seat.

"Get ready for one heck of a ride, kid!"

With that, Ralph began to scoot the kart along, his gargantuan hands striking the floor in synchronised gorilla movements. The needle on the speedometer flicked from one number to the next. Sixty, seventy, eighty miles an hour...ninety miles an hour...a hundred...Vanellope screamed with elation, the wind whistling through her hair as the go-kart rocketed forwards. They were zooming, they were flying, they were soaring...

All of a sudden, the kart screeched abruptly to a halt. The tunnel was suddenly flooded with light, and Vanellope instinctively screwed her eyes shut. She was vaguely aware of a cool, bland woman's voice speaking from above, although the words meant nothing to her.

"Here we go, Madam President," she heard Ralph say, the grin evident in his voice, "welcome to Game Central Station."

ooo

Ralph clambered down from the kart and dusted himself off, smiling at his diminutive friend. She was still sitting in the driver's seat, eyes huge as saucers, taking in the scene before her- the graffiti decorating the blue walls of their small off-chamber, and beyond, the faintly glowing expanse of Game Central Station. Squeaking with excitement, she somersaulted from the kart and landed before him.

"So, kid..." he chuckled, running a hand across his mussed-up hairline, "you ready to take your first steps out into the big, wide world?"

Vanellope jumped up and down, her oversized head bobbing excitedly...but then, suddenly, unexplicably, she began to deflate. Turning away from him, the president of Sugar Rush sat down in the tunnel and hugged her knees.

"The thing is, Stinkbrain..." she muttered, avoiding his gaze, "I don't know if I really _want _to leave my game yet." Ralph felt his heart swoop down into his stomach. He stared at her, dismayed.

"But you've wanted to do this forever, kid! What d' you mean, you don't-"

"Look, big guy-" Vanellope cut him off sharply, meeting his gaze with her limpid eyes. She sighed again, her stare darting to the floor. "I want to do it, don't get me wrong, but- agh, I don't know why, but I'm scared! What if I _die_, and I don't regenerate?"

Ralph inhaled sharply, preparing to confront her with another barrage of words- but suddenly, realisation swooped down on him.

_She's just a nine-year-old kid, Ralph. A nine-year-old kid who hasn't been outside her game for fifteen years. If she doesn't want to leave yet...if she needs some time to settle...that's absolutely fine. Don't push her. Just give her some space._

Ralph blew a stream of air from the corner of his mouth, stooping down so that his head was level with Vanellope's. "Trust me, kid, you're not gonna die. After meeting Cy-Bugs, battling Turbo and almost getting broiled in Diet Coke...really, you've seen basically all the danger the arcade has to offer. And there's so much great stuff, too, stuff you can't just miss out on for the rest of your life!" Vanellope lifted her head ever so slightly, and Ralph smiled at her, extending his hand. "You can do it, kid. One little step, and you'll never have to be scared again. But if you don't feel you're ready yet...well, I guess that's up to you."

Vanellope sniffed faintly, using Ralph's thumb to pull her up to her feet. "Keep your pants on, Brick Brain!" she replied, with a hint of her old gutsiness. "I'm going outside. Ten...nine...eight..." She gulped. "Seven...six...f-f-five..."

Ralph shook his head, allowing the trace of a grin to flit across his face. "Aw, come on, kid! You're never gonna do it that way!" He jerked one arm out, grabbed Vanellope, and dumped her into the seat of her kart. She sputtered, outraged, for a moment, but then went quiet, her eyes round and bright. Ralph climbed up to his regular perch at the back and gave her the thumbs-up, his massive hands already outstretched to scoot.

"Three...two...one..."

ooo

Vanellope's knuckles were white on the steering wheel, even though she wasn't driving. For the first time in her life, she felt nauseous in the seat of her go-kart, and her head was spinning relentlessly. The yellow glow behind her scrunched-up eyelids was piercing ever brighter, and she screamed with all the force of her lungs as she felt the kart's wheels spin out of control, no longer making contact with the ground beneath them.

_This is it_, she thought frantically. _Ralph was wrong, way wrong. Five minutes out of my game, and I'm already dead._

As she braced for impact, the kart jolted back down to earth, skidding on a smooth, slick surface completely different from that of the tunnel's rubbery wires. It slid quietly to a stop, and Vanellope slumped back into her seat, trying to clear her throbbing head. Behind her, she felt a slight jolt as something thudded down from the top of the kart. The air was bubbling with muted chatter.

"Vanellope? _Vanellope?_ Are you OK? Open your eyes, kid!" It was Ralph's voice, filled with concern and wonderfully real in the mayhem surrounding her. Vanellope eased herself up into a sitting position and blinked groggily. The world blurred, then slid back into focus. Ralph's face swam before her in the light, his small brown eyes fixing her with an anxious stare.

"Chill out, worrywart, I'm fine," she mumbled, trying to sound as assertive as possible. It didn't fool Ralph, who reached out his huge, square-knuckled hand and scooped her gently up. Any other time, Vanellope would have protested vehemently, but she was still too dizzy to do anything other than loll back in his firm grip. Besides, she needed to get a proper look at Game Central Station.

"Shut your eyes," Ralph instructed, lifting her up to his shoulder. Vanellope groaned crabbily, but reluctantly obeyed. She felt Ralph turn slowly around, still keeping his hand there so she could balance. "O-kaaay...three, two, one, open!"

Vanellope lifted one eyelid just a fraction. Impatiently, she blinked away the glowing rays that fractured off her thick lashes. Her eyes grew wide, locating the crystalline windows that flooded the station with sunlight, reflecting off the glossy white floor. She felt her jaw drop of its own accord at the thousands of characters coming and going through the golden portals lining the walls. Some she recognised- there were the aliens from Space Invaders and Yuni from Dance Dance Revolution, whose screens both faced that of Sugar Rush. But others were completely unknown to her- a giant of a man whose body was covered in tufts of hair, for example, or a group of lime green penguins wearing princess outfits. Even if Vanellope stayed in the arcade for another fifteen years, she felt she'd never know all the people who lived there.

It was the first time in her life she'd ever been lost for words.

ooo

Ralph had no idea how Vanellope would react to Game Central Station. She'd been acting so unpredictable lately- one minute whooping and hollering and gambolling around, the next curling up crying like a sad little hedgehog. Maybe he'd made the wrong decision. Maybe she'd run back screaming into the tunnel. Ralph had never known any little kids before Vanellope, so he wasn't sure what to predict.

But when he saw her get her first look at the place...he knew he'd done the right thing. She flopped there on his shoulder, her eyes like stars, soaking up every aspect of the world around her. For a minute or so, they just stood there, Vanellope propping herself against his neck like a rag doll. Eventually, Ralph felt the need to clear his throat.

"So, how'd you like the station, kiddo?" His own voice sounded hoarse and raspy. Vanellope looked up slowly, her round face crinkling into a huge grin, and suddenly slid down his arm to his hand, dangling from one finger like a small pendulum.

"It's..it's...I love it! ILOVEITILOVEITILOVEIT!" she ejaculated, punctuating each word with a small glitch. "Ralph, my man, you've done it again! All these games...all these characters...I mean, this is just _too good to be true! _It's impossible!"

Ralph heaved a sigh of relief, beginning to smile. "You up for a tour of the arcade, then, President?"

"Hell yeah I am!" Vanellope glitched up onto his shoulder in a blur of blue pixels, grinning impishly and flashing him the thumbs-up.

Ralph felt the hot-pie feeling spread through his stomach again.

_A/N: Well, there we go. Not entirely sure how pleased I am with this, but I'm glad to have it done at last! There will probably be a later chapter describing the tour around the arcade, but not for a while yet. I'd like a minimum of 12 reviews before publishing Chapter 3, so please do if you have a moment :)_


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